Tuesday, August 29, 2006

Planning a "Spontaneous" Drill

The Tribune article reveals which buildings are going to be going to be participating in the mock drill, lending a bit of a lie to the "spontaneity" of the drill. Has anyone at the District level even seen anything regarding this? Here are our problems with the whole thing:

Certain elements of the Department have already stated that the lowly beat guys and gals don't have to be made aware of the plans. We certainly hope that the brass is completely and thoroughly familiar with the plan then, because coppers can sense when the bosses don't have a handle on things and discipline will break down from that point downwards.

Are they pulling incident teams out of nearby districts? Or gang and tact teams? Are they paying any OT so that coverage doesn't lack in busy districts for a drill? All we need is a couple of homicides or aggravated batteries after cars get called out of the Districts for a drill.

Are they pulling in buses? Shutting down entrance and exit ramps to downtown? The thing that seemed to work best during the hey day of the Bulls was directing all traffic outbound on various expressways and shutting down exit ramps to make sure everyone who ended up on the expressway ended up in Westchester before they could exit and come back.

How about simulated power outages? No traffic lights? TMA's being called in? What if bridges are targeted? Are they raising a few to hinder the evacuation? How about having a couple dozen Metra trains to get people out of the city? CTA trains? What if it's a tunnel attack?

There are just too many variables to throw into a drill like this that would interrupt the business of the city. Our thinking is that the best bet is to have as many street level supervisors as possible to be aware of what is expected of them in the event of a disaster. Especially the sergeants and lieutenants in the business districts. The outlying police districts will be able to hold their own during the initial stages of a crisis. Getting the Downtown area empty and secured is a problem unto itself

Why can't people just relax and enjoy the finer things about the city. Sure there are ties to the mafia. Sure the Carusos who are still tied to the mysterious death of a teenage kid who was a witness to beating. Sure the Carusos showed up to support Sorich just like the Daleys support him. Sure we've had people running the department who are mobsters like Chiefs and Superintendents. So what. Have you been to Millenium Park lately. have you noticed we're less than 100 million in the hole for this years budget. You don't see Jesse Jackson complaining and it was just proven that detectives tortured confessions out of black people for decades and no one was ever punished. In fact no one is ever going to be punished for it. Could you imagine if those were white people who tortured. We should be glad that Jesse Jackson is forgiving. Who do you think most of those jobs went to that Sorich fixed. You bet your sweet ass they weren't black. You don't here Jesse complaining though. I can't believe all the complaining that you guys do. Your never satisfied. Why can't you be more like Jesse.

Well some kind of disaster drill is better than nothing (I guess.) Maybe through trial and error a comprehensive plan that works will be put in place. But I have to agree with SCC leaving first responders and their supervisors out of the loop is just plain stupid. I mean we're the ones who have to implement it right?

Just maybe the drill is for Chicago First specifically. Their to be informed first of any real threat if it's known before the entire city population. So I would gather only a few would be involved in the drill. Now I wonder if the drill event will put a slight hitch in banking when they enact it.

Research Chicago First it was set up by a CEO from LaSalle bank and Chicago wants to promote it as a first and also have it act as the the model. All important people, financial records, computers and money will be moved in anticipation of any attack and prior to the rest of the population even being notified. They have safe houses set up away from the city.

As for worrying about getting citizens to evacuate the downtown area should a terrorist or other emergency situation require, don't waste your time. They will get out on their own as long as they are aware of the situation. I remember on Sept.11 I was in academy when shit hit the fan, and they put all of us clueless recruits on buses and shipped us downtown to help evacuate citizens from the area and be there in case terrorists decided to hit Chicago. My group had about 3 whole months in, no guns and we were off to save the city. That was the absolute stupidest thing I have ever seen the dept. do. Thank god we get downtown and it was empty. NO ONE anywhere. I am talking not even crazy homeless guys. Every street was vacant, so they just sent us back. Sometimes we don't give the citizens enough credit...once they realize the seriousness of the situation, they will find their own way out! Remember that downtown is filled with mostly educated people that have the money to get out...we are not talking the ghetto where it would be complete chaos and looting.

"IT IS NOT PRACTICAL TO TRAIN INDIVIDUAL OFFICERS TO RESPOND TO A TERRORIST ATTACK.”

Imagine that being repeated in front of a Congressional investigating committee and the media.

If this was real, and you saw the possibility of a toxic cloud of dust coming, get the hell out of there as fast and as far as possible. You cannot do yourself or anyone else any good if you are blind and sucking dust without proper gear and training. Look at what New York City did. The families of the police officers who died at the scene were well taken care of. Those who are dying now because of the effects are being ignored. Daley will probably do more to save his precious flower pots than to take care of us.

I still have the pill boxes from the TOP-OFF II exercise. During that exercise no one ever issued any protective gear or training how to use it. They also never issued a report on probable police casualties.

After all, it’s the 21st century/ Post Shakman shakeup. The department still gets their clout guys with the 30% meritorious BS. My question is what about the actual rank number "legit" list. Does the city/department still jumble around with the numbers and play with it?

According to the Roberts Group ( www.cjrstudygroups.com ) 3,628 took the second part. Perhaps we should all contact John Kass of the Tribune on his “Drop a Dime” on city corruption site and let him know the fix is still in!! Its at: www.chicagotribune.com/clouttips

Just like everything else, this is going to be a smoke and mirrors, well choreographed (sp) exercise. Everyone will know ahead of time where to be and where to go. This mock dress rehersal will come in handy if the terrorists give us their plans weeks ahead of time...but they dont!!! It is a show being put on by the department to ease the fears of the citizens. When the SH*& hits the fan it will look just like any other unplanned CPD production (ie Bulls riots..) where big bosses sit in their company cars with their drivers, talk on the cell phones and let the real police take care of business and get the job done. PS What happened to the Guru of evacuation plans (Cmdr Neil) who was transferred from 016 to OEMC to finalize the plans. Apparently he did such a good job that they dumped him to Cmdr of traffic. What does that tell you???

JESSE HAS ALWAYS HAD TIES TO ORGANIZED CRIME, WHAT DO YOU CALL JEFF FORT AND THE EL RUKINS WHO WERE GOING TO COMMITT TERRIOST ACTIONS FOR MOHMAR KHADAFI BESIDES HAVING TIES TO LIBAYAN PRESIDENT MOHMAR KADAFI, THE GUY THAT ADMITS HE WAS BEHIND THE BOMBING OF THE 747 (LOCKABIE BOMBING) AND YOUR RIGHT JESSE DID'NT COMPLAIN ABOUT HIS FRIEND KHADAFI BLOWING UP A PLANE BECAUSE IF HE DID I'M SURE HE WOULD HAVE HAD NEWS COVERAGE JESSE HAD FAMILY MEMBERS WITH TIES TO THE EL RUKINS. JESSES ALSO HAD TIES TO THE GD'S AND LARRY HOOVER WHO HE WOULD NOT MAKE A NEGATIVE COMMENT ABOUT WHEN ASKED ABOUT LARRY, ANYONE KNOW IF JESSE IS STILL USING THESE GANGS IN HIS POLITICAL ORGINIZATION?

Must read ERIC ZORN'S defense of the penis pump man in the Tribune. It is clear by his line, "any fool can see that this was not a bomb" that Mr. ZORN is in fact, himself, intimatly familiar with the form and function of a penis pump. But we could all tell that by looking at him, couldn't we? Maybe his buddy Aaron Patterson introduced him to the device as an aid in their give and take.

This drill is under the direction of our new Chief Emergency Officer Trotter, so CPD involvement is being held to a minimum becasue Trotter doesn't play well with others. Interestingly enough, he stole it from one of his CFD Deputy Commissioners, but he's to good of a guy to try and get the credit.Amazing that all of the various activities, exercises, responses, etc... of CPD and CFD have never mysteriously made it to the media, but the one Trotter's office is involved in is all over the news. Squawk all you want about CPD's preparedness, but the real problem is that our Chief Emergency Officer has absolutely no backround or experience in anything other than EMS response. How come his lack of credentials has never been made an issue?As far as Commander Sullivan, that was Trotter's way of getting him out of the picture because he had the audacity to suggest more CPD involvement in this drill from the beginning.

Everyone at 911 or should I say OEMC ( unless Trotter has added more letters) should not be surprised that they heard about it through the news. OEMC forgot that their primary job is to provide emergency communications to CPD and CFD. If they could find a way to get rid of the dispatchers they could redecorate that huge room and put a hundred new civilians in there with blackberrys. after all CPD CFD and dispatchers only get in their way.

We need a school drill. Chicago Public Scool has a plan in place, but thats only for a couple of first responding ppo's to go in and look for bad guys that are obvious threats. What about students who look like normal kids but have ak's. OK, lets get real here. How about when the school is allowing it's building to be be used as a polling place. Our kids are in school (Normal School Day) while every registered and non-registered sex offender is going to "VOTE". Everybody has access to the school. Plant whatever in the bathroom, hallway, garbage can, wherever. Officers, lets get vocal on this. If you have a student in CPS, Get loud. Either the kids need to have the day off, or other facilities need to be used for polling!

Were not ready for SHIT. We have no protective equipment. Bad Radios that wont go 6 hours or communicate from within a brick facility. No radio channel to coordinate with fire dept except for bigwigs, who by the way have so many notifications to make cant possibly take the time to command an orderly program./

Dont worry, If and when Chicago gets attacked we will have the highly trained Brass of our Department sitting at OEMC in the JOC waiting for things to cool down while a bunch of 018 and 001 coppers are exposed to some bad things.

But the brass will be available to speak to the news, the Sup will be trying to explain why we werent better prepared, But he will say that the city has busted a few open air drug markets on the south and westsides. So all will be well.

If you sleep better knowing that we are prepared for a terrorist attack in Chicago.....then you are a fool.

We DO NOT have the proper equipment or training to handle a crisis if we are hit with a terrorist attack in downtown Chicago!!!

Here are some examples with an offered solution:

1) Our radios suck! How many of us have ever tried to reach dispatch from inside a building or hospital and have to walk outside before they can hear us? In a real situation where chaos will take over, our radios will be on at full blast and will suck the juice out of those batteries.... And in a real situation WE WILL be out there for hours!

Solution: BETTER radios and/or High powered transmission repeaters installed all over downtown. If Verizon can do it..."Can you hear me now?", Why not the city?

2)Our weapons of choice... the .38, 9mm, or .45cal handguns.The terrorist? Assault rifles like the AK 47, AK 74, or SKS. We can see who will be better prepared for a shootout!! And dont argue that HBT(SWAT now?) SOS, or SORT have assault weapons too. Have you ever seen how fast they respond to a scene and form a plan??!!!

Solution:Have at least two 10-4 beat cars per district trained and armed with M16's, M4's or some other assault rifle at all times. Tact teams in every district should also be trained and have access to those weapons too in case of an attack. With all that fire power at hand, we would be able to put up a fight right away. Besides, we have plenty of military in our ranks who know what they are doing.

One last solution:HIRE MORE POLICE OFFICERS!!!! How many PO's does New York have now and did during 9/11? 20,000+? (please correct me if I'm wrong). Does the city really think 9,000 to 13,000 PO's (depending on which figures you want to believe) can handle a disaster the size of 9/11 and the rest of the city's crime??!! WTF.... some districts go to hell every night cuz all their beat cars are 99 and we are supposed to be ready for a disaster?

I'm just tossing some solutions out there.... I'm sure others can think of some better ones.

Im CPD, 20+ years, 45yo + a few; anybody my age remember those"air raid" drills they put us threw in grade school? At least "they" had some sort of plan, even against the "mushrooms". But that was that WW2 generation, this yuppie/liberal/ghetto cabal sux!!!

This city is the equivalent of Mayberry. 5 years later and our officers, CFD, and Dispatch hasn't been trained for a terroroist attack let alone has any working equipment and sufficient amount of officers.

If we ever get hit, it will be reminiscent of NY: high casualty of our most important people.

Then the city will get slapped with a ton of lawsuits and maybe, just maybe then they'll do something. But at a very high cost of lives lost.

Floida is #1 for being prepared and the police departments there have working equipment, etc whereas this place is literally run by the proverbial Andy Griffith.

Maybe this is something Homeland Security needs to look into and our memorial will contact them if this city doesn't get itno gear.

Cortez Trotter, a political hack, puppet to the Mayor. Neil Sullivan can be goofy sometimes, but, like the previous poster suggests, he did want CPD way more involved. I was at meetings where he stood up for CPD and did the right thing in terms of the planning and response for a terrorist event, insisting that CPD play a major role. He was dumped for daring to suggest this. God forbid someone take Trotter's limelight away. He is a real piece of SHIT!

Think on this: No matter how well prepared you are for a terrorist attack you will not be able to make much of an impact on the situation. It is reactionary. The best you can get out of this training is for us to not panic along with the general public and da' mayor;what a chicken shit he is; and be able to direct citizens to medical help and safety.One would only hope the brass doesn't decide to place tact officers at potential bomb sites (Power stations /radio towers)with only 9mm guns to protect these sites and themselves (Like they did after 9/11). Kind of like bringing a BB gun to a gun fight. This exercise is smoke and mirrors. A way to deflect critics -Some would say this is better then nothing but in fact we are part of the PR machine for the city. If you want to test police response I say we dress the Mayor up like a blond stripper, send him to the lockup in 002, have him claim he's crazy as a shit house rat, and see what they have learned.

New York has, and always will have more police officers than us. It has nothing to do with crime, population, or 911.

New York, even in te modern age of the automobile, has always and does so today, relied upon foot posts. It is their tradition, and one the are loathe to get rid of. They probably have as many foot posts as beat cars, if not more. They are very serious about them too. Most cops get written up for being off of their foot post.

We do not have that many. Of course, if you want to walk a beat, in the heat, cold, rain, etc., be my guest and join NYPD. I here they are having major retention problems and will hire just about anyone who has a breath of life in them.

A few weeks ago we, in 025 had a "Spontaneous" planned exercise in response to a shooting in a school. Steinmetz HS was the venue and if you are familiar with it, it is huge. The responding Officers were given simulated radio traffic and assignment of a gang fight which eventually led to shooting in the school. The magnitude of a complete evacuation exercise is no comparison, but the one thing is standard. REALITY CHECK. When dealing with a chaotic situation with only escalating activity, the resources needed for such an exercise are not a block away waiting for dispatch. The facts are that SOS, Sort teams, HBT, and whatever clever little units they have in store, are scatterd all over the city. In a REAL TIME simulation, that should be a factor. Scatter the manpower. Make it real. Put the Phony "CALL ALL COPPERS TO WORK" over all the TV and Radio stations and start the clock. Only then can you guarantee accuracy in your simulation. PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE. Overtime is money well spent by the city in order to protect and save lives in te event of an actual need. THESE HORSESHIT SIMULATIONS ARE A CONTROLLED ENVIRNMENT, PRACTICING FOR AN UNCONTROLLABLE SCENARIO. The hearts are in the right place, but reality lacks

As for Trotter, a friend of mine knew him when he was a moonlighting tech in a Chicago hospital (he was a paramedic on the CFD)that didn't know didley sh## and didn't last long.....talk about a box of rocks. And this guy is our chief emergency officer? I wish Barney was back... "Nip it in the bud".

I agree. WE are not trained or equiped with the whats required for a major disaster. Radios are bad, no bio-hazard clothing, no high power weapons. No fresh air.The last bomb threat I went to, the ppo and sgt responding wanted to move the box with a stick, then used the RADIO to call for a supervisor. Hey NUMNUTS! Radio's can set off a device. Your stick is useless with a bomb. The Watch commander didnt want to bother bomb and arson, so he opened the box himself. Nice job! It was a dead bird. Risked my life and everybody around. Officers, unitlize bomb and arson. Think safety, set up a parimeter, stay off your cell phone, think about a secondary device after the first one blowes your stick out of your ass. Come on people. This shit is for real!!!Those of use with military experience have been trained. Police academy training is just to tease you and get you in half shape barney the dinosour mode. Put your fuzzy caps hand cuffs away and take this job seriuosly.We have no manpower, no morale, no equipment, and brains in our ass.Im going back to work for Wallmart.Cant spell for shit anyway!

Well, now that any terrorist looking at this site will confirm, were not perpared, trained or up to the task, You better watch yourself. Were sitting ducks. Like 5 yr olds at a birthday party waiting for the candy just to find that were not fast enough or smart enough to get in there and get our share. Just remember, if it looks like a gun, shoot first. If it acts like a threat, take it out. BB Gun? Shoot! Knife? Shoot! BB Bat? Shoot? Looks like a duck, acts like a duck, it is a duck!This is not a game!My Daddy always told me, "he who can hit first and walk away, will live to fight another day".Im counting on you to watch over me. My family. Our naighbors.Be alert. Dont let the media scare us when some mope has a fake gun and there out on the street, saying police used excessive force.Just one time I would like to go to court, pull out a fake gun that looks real, point it at the jury, judge and media, and see if they fear for thier life at that minute.I think they will get the point.Until our loved ones are victims, were all just pawns.

We are planning a "spontanious" drill here in Massachusetts. Same deal, though no one outside of some Boston and State Police are really involved.

When everyone flees downtown Boston they will end up in our towns outside the city. I guess we'll deal with it if there ever is a major incident, after all, my town has 16 cops who can handle the overflow of the major city evacuation.

Anti-Terrorism Intelligence Awareness Training Program (AIATP) Start Date: 13 September 2006 End Date: 13 September 2006 Location: New York, NY Description: The Anti-Terrorism Intelligence Awareness Training Program(AIATP) is an introductory awareness program designed to provide lineofficers and first-line supervisors with a working knowledge of the criminalintelligence process and applicable laws, guidelines, policies, tools andtechniques. Knowledge gained in this course will aid in the detection ofpre-incident indicators related to terrorist activity in the community thatmay be encountered during the course of their law enforcement duties. Aportion of this training program is region-specific. Please review thetraining schedule and apply for a program in your area.

UNFAIR;;;;There is more than enough to bitch about about the CPD but this one is totally on the fool, Cortez (3 pensions) Trotter. This buffoon almoest wrecked OEC so naturally they promoted him him to CFD. There he was so totally inept even the Mayor was embarrassed so again he was promoted to whatever B.S. political job he has now. Actually pretty harmless unless, of course, there is an actual emergency and he performs up to his past standards and total disaster results. But he votes straight Dem. so its all ok.